BROWN claims 40 per cent of all jobs in Scotland are directly or indirectly connected to the UK. He said that proved Scotland was not like Norway, the country so often used as an example by the SNP.

ALMOST a million Scots jobs are linked to the Union, Gordon Brown told voters yesterday.

The former prime minister said around 40 per cent of all jobs in Scotland are directly or indirectly connected to the UK.

He said that proved Scotland was not like Norway, the country so often used as an example by the SNP.

And he argued that defending jobs by keeping the Union was “honest patriotism” and “truly standing up for Scotland”.

The SNP dismissed his claims as “absurd scaremongering”.

Brown stepped up his role in the No campaign a day after he risked angering his allies by telling David Cameron to agree to a referendum debate with Alex Salmond.

In a speech at the London School of Economics, he claimed 962,000 jobs in Scotland were connected to the UK.

They include 313,000 in companies run from other parts of the Union, 247,000 in firms who export to the UK and 65,000 in the public sector, according to research by Strathclyde University Professor Brian Ashcroft.

Brown added that 9500 Scots jobs depended on UK public contracts with Scots firms, and 3000 research jobs in higher education relied on UK grants.

He said: “About 40 per cent of Scottish jobs have a direct or indirect link to the rest of the UK. It makes no sense to risk our membership
of the UK or break the links on which thousands of jobs depend.”

And in a personal dig at Salmond, he added: “Truly standing up for Scotland is not about attention-seeking, Saltire-waving gestures at Wimbledon, but doggedly fighting for every single job for Scottish young people.”

Brown said Ashcroft’s “robust and cautious” figures proved that Scotland’s economy was far more tied to the UK’s than Norway’s was to Sweden’s.

He claimed: “Few countries are as highly integrated with their neighbours as Scotland is with England.

“Norway’s exports to Sweden are less than 10 per cent of its total. Scotland’s exports to England represent the vast majority of our exports.”

Brown insisted he was offering “a patriotic vision” of Scotland.

And he pointed to five main benefits of the Union: “UK-linked jobs, UK-guaranteed pensions, UK-funded healthcare, UK interest rate decisions, which Scots should be directly involved in making; and UK-wide links with relatives and neighbours”.

Brown said: “An honest patriotism starts from our love of Scotland.”

He said he wanted “a strong Scottish Parliament that addresses rather than ignores basic realities, puts the needs of Scottish people before the dogma of independence and seeks to carve out the best future opportunities for young Scots.”

SNP MSP Kenny Gibson said Brown’s claims on jobs were ridiculous. He said an independent Scotland would have close links and open borders with its neighbours and the UK would remain its biggest trading partner.